Sunday, 14 September 2014

Karma St.Martins, Isles of Scilly

Destination * Karma St.Martins, Isles of Scilly.

Day 1.

Outside I can hear the faint gentle lapping of the waves
from the sanctuary of my room, occasionally a curlew will call in the distance
but other than that there is complete and utter silence, the other world,(the
real one), seems far away and could easily be as distant as the stars I have
gazed at as I sat on the silkiest bed of sand feet away from the hotel and
waited for the full moon to make its appearance tonight.

Lucky me, I was staying at Karma St.Martins the newly opened
hotel on the island. I had known the islands as a child and in my memories they
seemed almost surreal and as I clambered aboard the little piper plane and the
engines revved up I was gripped by a fear that the purity of those childhood
holidays could never be recaptured, how wrong I was !

The cluster of islands appear and once again I was that
excited little girl pressing my nose to the window and if it were possible for
your heart to physically soar then it did as I gazed down at the sublime aqua
and deepest pure blue colour of the seas merging into glistening gold strips of
sand with deep brown rocks dotted like delicious chocolate drops scattered
haphazardly, as if by a gourmet chef drunk by his beautiful creation.I easily
caught the boat from the harbour of St Marys and we were off slicing through
the startlingly crystal clear waters the invigorating spray occasionally giving us the
merest caress as we inhaled the pure air.

Friendly locals chatted amicably and there were shouts of
‘turn the boat around’ as the ice-box carrying fresh produce bound for the
island flew off and bobbed up and down in our wake. It was deftly fished out
amongst much hilarity and then the island of St.Martins appeared before our
eyes, the long jetty seemingly stretching out ready to embrace us.

Just above lies the hotel of Karma
St.Martins, a cluster of pretty local granite stone buildings designed to
appear like a hamlet of cottages. Thirty rooms for guests along with sumptuous
suites all for the discerning traveller lying discreetly above the stunning bay.Savio
from reception was there to assist with my luggage with a genuine ready
infectious smile. I felt rather dazed,
the serenity overwhelms you immediately, the Indian summer was in full swing
and this sub-tropical paradise had me hopelessly smitten from the word go.

Within a matter of hours the magic of Scilly and Karmabegan to seepinto my exhausted body as I ever so slowly and
unwittingly began to 'let go' and completely unwind.